Teknologi kenal pasti sarang burung walit bermasalah

Berita Harian : www.bharian.com.my

SEBANYAK 60 pengusaha sarang burung walet tempatan dan kilang pemprosesannya sudah menggunakan Sistem Kesan dan Jejak Dalam Talian Sarang Burung Walet yang menggunakan teknologi Pengenalan Frekuensi Radio (RFID).

Jumlah itu adalah enam peratus daripada keseluruhan 980 pengusaha tempatan yang sedang memajukan produk berdaya maju tinggi yang mempunyai potensi pasaran besar khususnya dari China itu.

Sistem Kesan dan Jejak Dalam Talian Sarang Burung Walet itu dibangunkan Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) dengan kerjasama Jabatan Veterinar, di bawah Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani.

Projek di bawah Bidang Ekonomi Utama Negara (NKEA) isi kandungan dan infrastruktur komunikasi (CCI) itu dilancarkan pada 12 Ogos tahun lalu.

Buat masa ini, Malaysia adalah satu-satunya negara di Asia Tenggara yang memperoleh hak untuk mengeksport secara terus ke China, yang juga pasaran sarang burung walet terbesar di dunia.

Sijil RFID dari SKMM diperlukan untuk membolehkan sarang burung walet yang bermasalah dikesan menggunakan gelombang frekuensi radio untuk menentukan lokasi rumah sarang burung berkenaan.

Ia adalah satu daripada tiga syarat yang dikenakan kepada syarikat tempatan yang mengeksport sarang burung walet ke China.
Dua syarat lain ialah sijil penanda kesihatan veterinar daripada Jabatan Veterinar dan dan sijil kesihatan daripada Kementerian Kesihatan.

Usaha juga sedang dilaksanakan untuk membolehkan 300 rumah sarang burung walet dan kilang pemprosesan berdaftar menggunakan sistem itu tahun ini.

Selain itu, pihak berkuasa berkaitan juga sedang berunding dengan China mengenai paras nitrit dalam sarang burung walet yang boleh diterima.

Buat masa ini, China mengenakan sekatan ke atas sarang burung walet memandangkan paras tinggi nitrit yang disebabkan oleh stok berlebihan sarang terbabit dalam pasaran.

Sebaik sekatan itu dihapuskan, eksport sarang burung walet Malaysia yang dilakukan menerusi Sistem Jejak dan Kesan Sarang Burung Walet akan mempunyai tahap keselamatan tambahan yang memastikan keasliannya datang dari negara ini.

Menteri Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani, Datuk Seri Noh Omar, berkata syarikat tempatan yang menggunakan jenama 1Malaysia Best akan mengenal pasti sebuah syarikat di China sebagai rakan perniagaan bagi memudahkan eksport sarang burung walet dari Malaysia dipantau.

“Syarikat di China itu pula mesti melakukan promosi bahawa hanya produk sarang burung walet jenama 1Malaysia Best saja yang dijamin kualitinya dan selamat untuk dimakan,” katanya baru-baru ini.

Beliau menambah, antara lain, tindakan berkenaan akan memulihkan kembali industri itu yang mengalami masalah pemasaran ke luar negara akibat dakwaan produk itu mempunyai kandungan nitrit yang boleh membahayakan kesihatan.

“Pada 2011, kerajaan China telah melaksanakan penguatkuasaan kandungan nitrit sifar yang mengakibatkan kejatuhan mendadak harga sarang burung walet sehingga ke paras 50 peratus,” katanya.

Mengulas lanjut mengenai polisi kerajaan China tersebut, beliau berkata, ketika ini Kementerian Kesihatan kedua-dua negara sedang berbincang bagi mencapai kata sepakat mengenai kandungan nitrit yang dibenarkan.

Industri sarang burung walet Malaysia yang pesat berkembang kini dianggarkan sudah menguasai 20 peratus pasaran global.

Begitupun, peserta sektor itu kini terpaksa bersaing dengan sejumlah besar sumber sarang burung yang palsu dari negara jiran, manakala sesetengahnya diseludup ke negara ini untuk dieksport semula ke China.

Register With Veterinary Department, swiftlet farmers told

 

KUCHING: Only about 400 out of the 5,000 swiftlet farm operators in Sarawak have registered with the Veterinary Department.

(From left) Maher A. Lukasha, Ruben Perez Valdes and K. Godage.

Nationwide, the department has  registered 800 swiftlet farm operators who produce bird's nests. In the peninsula where swiftlet farming has been fast catching up, most swiftlet farm owners had  registered with the government. However, the majority of those in Sarawak, which constituted 40 per cent of total bird's nest exports, have yet to do so.

"All swiftlet farmers and exporters are urged to register with the Veterinary Department to ensure  they fulfil all the criteria set by the government," said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry's deputy secretary-general (Planning),  Datuk Raihan Sharif.

This would enable the government to issue certificates of health as well as give accreditation to the bird's nest entrepreneurs whose production, process and packaging  need to meet a higher standard, he said. The move would ensure that the product would comply with the health standard and was safe to be exported to China, he added.

The move to regulate the industry was taken after China detected high levels of nitrate in bird's nests exported from Malaysia. A check last July found that Malaysian bird's nest samples contained 200 parts per million (ppm) of nitrate.

China had stopped the import of bird's nests from Malaysia following the detection. The World Health Organisation's allowable level is 34 ppm.  Raihan said his ministry and the Health Ministry were working with the Chinese authorities to resolve difficulties in exporting bird's nests to China. "We are now trying to register all exporters so that China would only take in these products." 

He acknowledged there was a drop in the price of bird's nest because of the allegation. "However, once Malaysia is able to regulate its bird's nest quality and take care of  the safety issue, the price will go up again," Raihan said at a press conference   after the National Agro Food Policy Workshop  here yesterday.

He said with the new standards imposed, the government was targeting to generate RM1 billion from  the  bird's nest industry as it was one of the focus sectors under the national key economic areas

Read more: Register, swiftlet farmers told - Central - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/streets/central/register-swiftlet-farmers-told-1.59686#ixzz1pkpUJ61H

Swiftlet numbers dwindling in Niah caves

Posted on March 17, 2012, Saturday

COLOSSAL ENTRANCE: The Great Cave of Niah is where the swiftlets’ nests are harvested. INSET: A black-nest swiftlet perched by the wall of the cave.

Image from data file

MIRI: Only around 100,000 black-nest swiftlets (Aerodramus maximus) remain in the limestone caves of the Niah National Park. This is a drastic drop compared to the around 1.7 million found in the 1930s. According to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC), the decrease is mainly due to the harvesting of the edible nests, which are considered a delicacy and even aphrodisiac in Asia.

Niah park warden Haidar Ali told The Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) on Thursday that SFC’s main focus is increasing the number of black-nest swiftlets to ensure the species thrives in the future. SFC sets temporary bans every year on the local community, who have licenses, from harvesting the nests. “During these periods, we allow the swiftlets to nest their eggs and help to increase its population,” Haidar explained.

He stressed that the licensed harvesters also do not harvest every day when the ban is lifted, working only when the nests are plentiful.

A master plan on managing national parks and totally protected areas (TPA) nationwide, he said, was formulated by the Malaysian and Danish governments through a project between 2001 and 2003. “Since then we have had proper management of the bird population and controlled the harvesting activities. This is also to ensure the ecosystem for the birds is also maintained.”

Four other areas involved in the project are the Lambir National Park, Bukit Tiban National Park, Similajau National Park and Sibuti Wildlife Sanctuary. He added that the government has given 86 licenses to the people of Sepupok and Tanjong Belipat to harvest bird’s nests in the caves of Niah National Park.

As much as 95 per cent of the harvesting is conducted in the Great Cave of Niah. Raw black-nest swiftlet nests can be sold to traders for around RM100 per kg, depending on the quality.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/03/17/swiftlet-numbers-dwindling-in-niah-caves/#ixzz1pjhwdKc3

Keeping bird’s nests industry contamination-free

Posted on March 4, 2012, Sunday

THE rearing of swiftlets that produce the edible bird’s nests is still a largely unregulated commercial activity.

Not so long ago, the authorities launched a crackdown on some urban swiftlet farms, especially in Mukah and Sibu

A bird’s nests production facility could be a wholly man-made house or converted natural relief such as caverns, valleys and cliffs forming the nesting habitat. Supporting facilities could also configured to breed swiftlets through a captive breeding programme, commercialised scientific farming methods, specialised apparatus, mechanisms and techniques.

In essence, the basic requirement is education for all the parties involved – investors, farmers, politicians and licensing authorities – on the dos and don’ts of the industry. Good Animal Husbandry Practice (GAHP) for Swiftlet Ranching is a primary consideration. Indeed, one of the best ways to advance the bird’s nests industry in the country is through the avoidance of product contamination.

China imposed a temporary ban on imports of local bird’s nests in 2010 after allegedly discovering that Malaysia’s product samples contained 200 parts per million (ppm) of nitrate against the standard level of 34ppm allowed by the World Health Organisation.

The Ministry Of Agriculture and Health Ministry can help lift the ban by introducing stringent measures to check contamination. The regulatory authorities should focus on efforts to clean up the nests rather than finding alternative ways to dispose of poor quality products.

And while the government is trying to resolve the China ban, harvesters should also ensure their farms are well-managed and avoid the use of chemicals during processing. 

The industry has also been plagued by over-production due to no importation from China. Prices of harvested bird’s nests had dipped by 50 per cent last year. Good quality products are now sold between RM2,000 and RM3,000.

To arrest the decline, the Health Ministry will launch a campaign to promote bird’s nest-based products among the locals.  Some quarters have suggested imposing a stricter set of rules and regulations to ensure production is contamination-free and safe for export.

If harvesters could ensure the quality of bird’s nests by keeping their farms clean, the value of their products would also to appreciate in tandem. As the bird’s nests industry is a potential money-spinner, the government can encourage and facilitate its development and growth with effective regulations  and supervision rather than a laissez-faire approach.

The industry can earn additional foreign exchange from countries which are traditionally major consumers of the delicacy. In some countries, birds’ nest production has already been commercialised in a big way and production houses are even teaching the modus operandi to prospective investors.

Hopefully, local bird’s nests farmers will work closely with the authorities to bolster its development and growth. Whether approval can be given for the conversion of abandoned and even purpose-built  structures or floor spaces into productive swiftlet farms is a matter for further study.

What really counts at the end of the day is proper control and supervision by the authorised agencies to prevent unnecessary nuisances and inconveniences from swiftlet farming to residential neighbourhood. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib had said it was imperative to match adding value with a high value economy. He specially mentioned the bird’s nests industry as one high value economy concept that could be taken up by entrepreneurs.The other two are seaweed and ornamental fish enterprises.

Najib had also said the bird’s nests enterprise could be carried out on idle land, especially in the east coast of the peninsula. The other states with a history of bird’s nests production were urged to consider exploiting  the potential of the industry by embracing the high value economy concept. We should tap further into the sustainable use of this agricultural resource – edible bird’s nests – in the same manner as rubber and palm oil to boost the economy.

Bird’s nests can be exported either in raw or the finished form. It is an industry which, if properly regulated and managed, can create jobs and generate incomes for the people apart from earning foreign exchange for the government.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/03/04/keeping-birds-nests-industry-contamination-free/#ixzz1p4Y73ZVm

China clips wings of Malaysian bird’s nest industry

Wednesday February 29, 2012

Other News & Views Compiled by Winnie Yeoh

THE Malaysian bird's nest industry is facing another hurdle as China has banned its citizens from bringing the item back after visiting Malaysia, China Press reported. Federation of Malaysia Bird's Nest Merchants Association deputy president Datuk Tok Teng Sai said this posed a great challenge to the bird's nest industry as China had already stopped its import from Malaysia due to high levels of nitrate found in them.

(Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Chai Xi was reported last month as saying that the import of bird's nest to China was expected to resume next month following efforts by both Malaysian and Chinese governments to resolve the matter).

Tok said many bird's nest farmers had invested their life savings in the industry. He said China should practise reciprocity as the Malaysian Government did not place any restriction on its people from bringing in food products from the republic.

Health Ministry to promote Bird’s Nest Products among Malaysians

Posted on February 18, 2012, Saturday

BENTONG: The health ministry will launch a campaign to promote bird’s nest-based products among Malaysians, said minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said the Cabinet had directed the ministry and the agriculture and agro-based industry ministry to “save the bird’s nest industry” which had declined due to overproduction.

“As a result, the price per kilogram has dropped from RM4,000 to about RM1,000,” he told reporters at a Chinese New Year celebration event with the Orang Asli community in Kampung Cinta Manis near here.

He said bird’s nest could, for instance, be made into soup like sharkfin soup, which is popular among Malaysians.

Bernama

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/02/18/health-ministry-to-promote-birds-nest-products-among-malaysians/#ixzz1oRl5mgbV